Door construction for toy car roofs and the like



July 5, 1960 2,943,582

DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR TOY CAR ROOFS AND THE LIKE J. L. BONANNO Filed Nov. 4, 1955 Q 1 F i.

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\NVENTOR JEJZPA/LEOA/A/WVO BY 7/, M ATTORNEY noon CONSTRUCTION FOR TOY CAR oots Stm Paten Lionel Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation" of,

New York Filed Nov. 4, 1955, Ser. No. 545,006

" 1 3 Claims 01. 50-13 The present invention relates to door construction for toy car roofs and the like.

In regular railroad operation it is customary to provide aroof over. a hopper type car used for the transportation of materials such as cement, which must be protected from the weather. Tofacilitate fillingthe 2,943,582 Patented JI .1ly 5, 190

' plastic body member adapted to'fit over the top of the car body and to be detachably secured to it in any convenient manner. The roof member has a central cat walk 11 resembling the walk on thereof of acom mon box car. Along each side of the cat walk the body member 10 is provided with rectangular, holes or open-j ings :12, shown more clearly in Figure 4a..

At each side of each of the openin'gs'12, the body member is provided with downwardly opening recesses 13, 13 adjacent the cat walk 11. Each door opening 12 is adapted to be covered by a door 15, shown more in detail in Fig. 7. The door, also made of plastic, has a generally square portion 15w somewhat larger than the door opening, and a lower, marginal portion 15b narrow enough to be received in the door opening and is provided with outwardly extending pintles 15c, 15c, adapted to car with this powdered material, the roof of the cement car is normally provided with a number of doors which arenormally held closed. Other, forms of railroad cars have a single door in the roof.

The present invention contemplates a toy railroad car corresponding in its general appearance with such cement cars used on railways.

The invention accordingly contemplates the employment of a body member forming the roof of the toy car and the provision therein of a single door opening, or rows of door openings, together with one or more doors adapted to open and close the same.

Spring means are provided so that each door can be held in either the open or the closed position.

Other and further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

The accompanying drawings show, for purposes of illustrating the present invention, one embodiment in which the invention may take form, it being understood that the drawings are illustrative of the invention rather than limiting the same.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a toy railroad car of the hopper type with the roof attached;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the roof showing all but one of the doors closed;

Figure 3 is an inverted plan view of a portion of the roof with all but one of the doors closed;

Figure 4 is a transverse, sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figs. 2 and 3, showing the door at the left in the closed position and the door at the right in the open position;

Figure 4a is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 44, Figures 2 and 3, the door being omitted;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figures 2 and 3;

Figure 60: is a fragmentary sectional view at enlarged scale on the line 66 of Figure 2, showing the door fully closed in full lines and the door partially opened in dotted lines;

Figure 6b is a fragmentary view at an enlarged scale on the line 66 of Figure 2 showing the door fully closed in full lines and the door fully open in dotted lines;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the doors; and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the four-armed leaf spring used for holding any one of the four doors in fully closed or fully open position.

Figure 1 illustrates at B the body of a conventional toy hopper car and shows the body of the car as carrying a roof indicated at R. This roof employs a molded enter into the recesses 13, 13.

Midway between two pairs of openings, the body member 10 is provided with a downwardly extending stud 16 and opposite this stud are two aligning studs 17, 17. A four-arm spring member 20 is shown more'in detail in Fig. 8. This spring member has a central opening 21 and spring tongues 22, 22, so that when the spring member is forced up along the stud 16,; these spring tongues bite into the material of the stud and hold the spring member against removal. Notches 23 in the spring member fit about the aligning studs 17, 17. The spring member is shaped to form four leaf springs 24, 24, 24, 24 which extend underneath four of the door openings 12, as will be apparent from Fig. 3. Each leaf spring 24 bears against one of the doors 15.

As the doors are relatively thin they are provided with downwardly extending elements 25, as shown more clearly in Figs. 6a, 6b. Each element 25 is so shaped that when the spring 24 bears against its under or flat surface 25a, pressure is applied against the door to cause it to swing about the pintle in a direction to hold the door closed as shown in full lines at the left of Fig. 4 and in Figs. 6a and 6b. When the door is lifted manually toward open position, it passes at through the dotted line position shown in Fig. 6a and at this time the corner 25b of the boss 25 presses the spring 24 down, tensioning it. As the door is swung further toward the open position, this point 25 passes beyond a dead center position, whereupon the spring 24 presses against the edge 25b of the door in such a manner as to hold the door open. The parts are so dimensioned that the edge of the cat walk 11 forms stops for the opened doors, as indicated more clearly in Figs. 4 and 6b.

In manufacturing the roof, the requisite number of spring members 20 are secured to the studs 16 and then the individual doors can be manipulated into position from the upper side of the body member. This operation is carried out by inserting the door edgewise into the opening in an oblique position as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3, with one pintle in a recess, the edge of the door bearing on the upper face of the spring and the other pintle being under the edge of the door opening, and then twisting the door to bring the latter pintle opposite the recess. A door may be removed by a reverse operation.

In toy cars requiring but one opening, a single door and a spring with only one branch may be used.

Since it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other forms and constructions within the scope of the claims, I wish it to be understood that the particular form shown is but one of these forms, and, various modifications and changes being possible, I do not otherwise limit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In a roof structure for a toy including a rectangular body; member having-a row of door openings on each side of a center line thereof including pairs of such openings opposite one another and a door pivotally mounted in each of said door openings at a location close to one end thereof, the improvement comprising a unitary leaf spring rnember secured't'o the underface of said body member and having portions thereof biased against at least two of said doors along an area of said doors between the pivot and the adjacent end thereof, said area comprising marginal door portions and adjacent edge door portions, said spring being in contact with said marginal portions in the closed position of the doors and said edge portions in the open position of said doors whereby said spring biases the door in either extreme opened or closed position.

2. Ina roof structure for a toy comprising a rectangular body member withdoor openings arranged in sets of four and with one pair of openings in each set being opposite the other pair of openings, a door in each opening, said doors being pivotally 'mounted'at the ends thereof adjacent the opposing door and being upwardly openable, the improvement comprising a unitary spring member secured to the under face of said body member and having four arms each extending in a direction outwardly from a central portion of said body member to a position extending partially across one of said sets of four openings and being biased against the underface of one of said doors in the vicinity of its pivotal connections between the pivot and the adjacent end.

; spring having stud clip attaching/means adjacent said openings for attaching said spring to said body between saidaligning-members, said spring having portions which extend. to a location below and in touching biasing confact with each of said doors in a location between the pivotal mounting and the adjacent end of such doors.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 154,196 Spaulding et a1 Aug. 18, 1874 2,056,270 Harbert -a Oct. 6, 1936 2,128,624 Swanson Aug. 30, 1938 2,342,619 Vandenberg et a1 Feb. 22, 1944 2,481,878 Robinson Sept. 13, 1949 2,557,749 Lundine June 19, 1951 2,658,307 Pettit Nov. 10, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,005 Austria Jan. 25, 1905 

